TAT Industries will purchase Sabena Technics following several months of discussions, as first reported by this website in March ( ATWOnline, March 21). TAT and Sabena signed an MOU at the Paris Air Show last week for the acquisition by TAT of the share capital of the MRO subsidiary of Sabena, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The MOU was approved by the various players involved, including the company's works council. The workforce agreed to a cut in salaries, which was a condition for TAT to keep the current level of employment.
LAN Airlines implemented interline e-ticketing with the alliance's member airlines--American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Finnair and Aer Lingus--and their 17 affiliates.
America West Airlines began daily nonstop service between Las Vegas and Monterey. America West Express, operated by Mesa Airlines, is operating the new flights using 86-seat CRJ900s.
Alaska Air Group's board of directors elected Marne McCluskey to the newly created position of VP-employee resources for Horizon Air. In this role, she will be responsible for the employee resource teams in Seattle and Portland and oversee recruiting and staffing, learning and development, performance management, employee compensation, employee relations and employee records and systems.
Iberia flew 3.99 billion RPKs in May, up 9.4% on the year-ago period, while capacity increased 7.3% to 5.35 billion ASKs. Consequently, load factor improved 1.4 points to 74.7%, the highest level ever reached by the airline in the month of May. The number of passengers carried grew 6.8% to 2.5 million. For the first five months of the year, passengers increased 2.8% on the year-ago period to 11 million, RPKs grew 7.1% on a 6.2% rise in ASKs, and load factor gained 0.6 point to 74.5%.
United Airlines and its International Assn. of Machinists-represented employees finalized a five-year agreement reached in principle last month, the union said Friday.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. placed a new $17 million revolving credit facility with First Tennessee Bank. The facility replaces the existing revolving credit agreement with Northwest Airlines, which was set to expire June 30.
Frontier Airlines will launch three weekly flights between Denver and Cozumel Dec. 17. In addition, the carrier will resume seasonal service to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo on Nov. 19, adding a weekly flight versus November 2004 for a total of three per week. It also will increase service from Denver to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta from Dec. 17 with an additional Saturday frequency during peak periods to complement daily service to both destinations, and will offer three daily flights to Cancun from Denver during the peak winter periods.
CSA Czech Airlines completed reconstruction of its catering building in Prague, which will allow it to increase production of meals from 15,000 to 18,000 a day. CSA invested CZK136 million ($5.5 million) in the facility. The additional capacity could raise planned revenues from services for third parties by up to 25%.
26 Galileo International announced partnerships with Global Travel International, a privately owned travel company that provides the tools necessary to become an independent travel agent, and eTravCo, a travel agency resource that furnishes support to travel agent members. Both companies are using Galileo Web Services to develop online booking engines for their home-based clientele.
SR Technics UK was granted Japan Civil Aviation Bureau approval and is now the only organization in the UK to have Perform Repair and Alteration approval. The JCAB authority allows SR Technics UK to perform repairs and alterations to Japanese-registered aircraft components at its Stansted facility.
Tampa Cargo said it notified Aeronavali and Cargo Aircraft Management of its firm commitment to be the launch operator of the 767-200SF. Tampa Cargo agreed to lease up to four 767-200SFs, with an unspecified number of options, from Cargo Aircraft Management after the passenger-to-freighter conversions of the aircraft are completed by Aeronavali. The first two are scheduled to be delivered in September and December.
Boeing completed the previously announced sale of its Commercial Airplanes operations in Kansas and Oklahoma to Onex Corp. ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23). The transaction was valued at roughly $1.5 billion, including cash of approximately $1.1 billion and the assumption of certain liabilities, Onex said. The purchased operations include Boeing's commercial airplane manufacturing facilities in Wichita, Kan., and Tulsa and McAlester, Okla.
Alaska Airlines and its 700 aircraft technicians, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract. Terms of the deal were not released, but AMFA Region 1 Director Louis Key said it provides "job security language and wage increases that are unique to the current industry environment." The airline said the ratification process is expected to begin within the next two weeks.
Air Canada announced three executive appointments yesterday. The airline named Sean Menke executive VP and CCO effective July 11. He formerly was senior VP and COO at Frontier Airlines. In addition, AC appointed Joshua Koshy executive VP and CFO, effective Aug. 1. Previously, Koshy was senior VP-information technology at Emirates Group. He replaces Rob Peterson, who will continue in his role as executive VP and CFO of AC's parent company, ACE Aviation Holdings.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May called on the US government to reject proposals for special aviation taxes to fund international development projects.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and JetBlue Airways signed an educational collaboration agreement that "encourages cooperation between the two organizations," including training programs for JetBlue crewmembers.
Midwest Airlines will boost weekday service from Milwaukee to Newark to four flights and from Kansas City to Los Angeles to three flights. Also, the carrier will upgrade to 717s on its fourth weekday flight between Milwaukee and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
The European Commission extended its initial investigation into the acquisition of Swiss International Air Lines by Lufthansa by two weeks to July 8. At that time, the EC will decide whether to clear the deal, conditionally clear it or open an in-depth probe that could last up to four months. A two-week extension usually is accorded in order to look at the "remedies" the carriers have proposed to meet competition concerns raised by the Commission. It also allows third parties, including competitors, to comment on the proposed changes.
Air Berlin plans to take on the future Swiss subsidiary of larger rival Lufthansa at its home base in Zurich. "Switzerland with Zurich, where we already have a plane, will become a further area of growth for us," Reuters quoted Air Berlin head Joachim Hunold as saying.
CAE was awarded a contract to provide Air Canada with two full-flight simulators for Embraer 170s and 190s, along with a suite of CAE Simfinity training devices. Based on list prices excluding BFE, the contract is valued at approximately C$27 million ($27.8 million).
China Southern Airlines took delivery of its fourth and final A330 this week. The aircraft is slated to be used initially on the carrier's domestic routes from Baiyun International Airport to Beijing and Shanghai.
